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June 14 I have moved...This is a little late I guess... but I figure better late than never.
My updated profile:
My updated blog:
My new blog:
June 03 hmmmm...For those who stumble by this blog even after 20 days of inactivity, here's the reason for my absence: I am thinking of turning this Space into a purely actuarial/ statistical/ business related Space. And even though I have idea to write about, I just don't feel like writing on an actuarial topic till the results of my last exam comes out.
I dont know why I feel like this, but I do. It should be another 10 -12 days I think till CAS releases the results of exam 7, and tensions are on the rise. This result determines a lot... not necessarily professionally, but personally.
Why, I hear you thinking, does it not affect me professionally? It is because I am not practising in the US anymore. Outside of the US, qulification matters, of course, but unless it is matched by experience, your pay or post hardly increases. With under 3 years of experience, out of which, one is completely non-traditional, I don't see my pay going up dramatically even if I pass the exam. All I want is to get through these suckers and then get on with life!
So... anxiously waiting for the results. Wish me luck... May 15 Buffet, anyone?This saturday night, I had the pleasure of being invited to one of the most 'happening' buffet places in Lahore for dinner (Salt n Pepper -Village, for those who are familiar with the city). The food was, as always, great with an insane variety to choose from. While sitting and enjoying my meal, I was noticing the people around and started categorizing them in my sub-concious. Four of the interesting classifications I came up with are:
1. The new: These are the people who aren't really sure how things work around the place. This is the kind that would refuse to let the waiters clear their table after their first helping. Afterall, they want more food and the wretched waiter is trying to take their plates away. The concept of a fresh plate for each serving seems too much for them to fathom. I can almost hear them thinking, 'Must be because the place is so crowded. The waiters have been told to pick up people's plates so people would leave quickly'.
2. The confused: These are probably the most interesting classification of people.For starters, they are roaming around the food area looking at dishes, unable to decide where to start and what and what not to have. You can see the concentration on their faces... thinking hard as if their life depended on it. Reading, over and over, the tags sitting next to each dish, wondering what they are in the mood to have.
Finally the lines on their foreheads disappear... the frown turns into a smile... purpose returns to their walk... decision has been made! They walk to the dish of their dreams, only to realize they now have an even bigger dilemma... How much should they put in the plate? the wrinkes on the forehead and frown on the face returns. They pick up the serving spoon and put it into the serving dish to pull out an amount... 'wait! is it too much?'. they tilt the spoon a bit to let a little back into the dish. 'Nah, I definitely want more', and back goes the spoon into the dish. Over to their plate now... tilt a little... a little more... maybe just a tad bit more. Seems good! But they aren't sure. The spoon goes back to the dish and fills up again... tilt, to let most of it fall back. Tilt again till there hardly anything left in the spoon. They decide not to put that small an amount into their plate. Finally the spoon is put down, but the hand lingers over it for a second longer. Not entirely sure if they want to let go just yet.
Over to the next dish where the process is repeated...
3. The over-zealous: This classification of people is best personified by one particular person who nearly ran over us as we were entering the place. Dressed in track suit and running shoes, he was there to take on the opponent (food). The excitement of being at a buffet was just too much for him to keep to himself. All those around him could feel the spillover effect. That much excitement is too much for one person to hold within themselves.
Once he was in the food area, there was no stopping him. He knew exactly where to go and how much to eat...he'd go wherever there was meat, and put in as much as he could fit in the plate. A simple solution to the problems faced by the confused. Time, of course, is of the essence. There are only a limited number of hours in the night that the place is open. The maximum amount has to be consumed before that. Afterall, Islam frown upon wastage of food!
4. The diet-concious: This kind just can't figure out what to do with all the food sitting and their diets not allowing them to pig out on it. They look at the food much the same way as the confused but not with a frown on their faces; instead there appears genuie concern. In the end there is a little bit of everything on their plates, which end up looking like a messed-up, colour-coded, but deranged world map.
And they are drinking mineral water while everyone else on their tables is having Coke or Sprite.
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Interesting place... a buffet... isn't it? May 09 The ZahirI finished reading The Zahir by Paulo Coelho last night. I do wonder why he is best known for The Alchemist because The Zahir is, I think, I much more insightful book... plus the story is more interesting.
As with all of Paulo's books (at least all that I've read), he has stuffed the book up with his outlook on life and how he sees things and how he thinks they should be. Of course, we don't have to agree with all of what he thinks is right, but he does have a way with words and even if his words get you thinking outside the box, I think that's all he wants.
Back to the book, and I am not going to write much, because I really think that you (yes, you) should read it if you haven't already and I don't want to spoil it for you (yes, you!). The Zahir is about an author whose wife disappears one day, and how his obsession with her makes him review and re-evaluate his own life. The book talks of all the 'zahirs' around us... the things that are there in front of us; our religion, our values, our entire lives, and how we need to stop holding on to our past to move ahead.
A great book, that everyone should read. Again, you don't have to agree with everything that Paulo says... as long as you think about it! May 08 How evil are you?***You Are 28% Evil***
A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil. May 07 Chessboard My dad suggested I read this article published in a leading daily newspaper in Pakistan. It proved to be more thought-provoking than I'd thought, so I decided to mention it here. The first paragraph is very straight-forward. For the rest of the article, you need to be somewhat familiar with the political situation in Pakistan, so I'll provide an introduction: Sharifov: the article mentions this word as reference to the ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (twice elected, twice removed before the term was over) Queen: She was (and still remains) Sharifov's biggest political rival... ex-Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto (twice elected, twice removed before the term was over) Q: refers to PML(Q) group... The political party that is currently in power supporting the regime of General Parvez Musharraf. Read on... if you can't click and open the article copy and paste this link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=5313 April 30 Writer's Bloc?I'm not sure what has gotten over me lately. While I was studying for
my exam, I was so looking forward to getting back to blogging again. I
had ideas to write about and I'd actually sit and think about how I'd
go about writing on a certain topic. Now that the exam is gone, I just don't feel like writing. I'm not sure if its a writer's bloc or something else. Come to think of it, I am shying away from reading as well. Had to start reading The Zahir right after the exam, and I haven't touched it so far. Maybe its because months of hardcore studying take away all will from me to do anything intellectually stimulating... may it be reading, writing, or anything else. Another reason I can think of is the fact that my mind is preoccupied with a lot of other things. I am considering leaing my job, possibly within a month or two and taking up something overseas (Far East most likely (inshaAllah)... more details on that as they unravel). I am also planning a 2-3 day trip to the UAE in the upcoming month (this also serves as an advance notice to my regular readers from UAE... you know who you are). I am now comtemplating if I should write about what I had to eat today, and what time I slept and what I did last night and all that... but nothing thought provoking is going to come out of it. So I figure I'll bid you farewell for now. Hopefully I'll have things to say in the near future that are a better read than this. See you then... April 26 Actuarial Science in PakistanSo around exam-time, I noticed a number of people getting to my blog because they were googling "How to pass an actuarial science exam" or "Actuarial Science around the globe" or something of the sort. Today I got a hit from somebody searching for "Actuarial Science in Pakistan". All these actuarial science related searches have made me realize that I should write a bit more about that on and off. About "Actuarial Science in Pakistan", I realize I have put only negative stuff on my blog (see entry dated 21 March 2006) whereas there are positives related to the profession in the country. One thing I would like to clarify is that I am writing from the perspective of a Property & Casualty Actuary (non-life insurance actuary). That is a field extremely limited in scope in Pakistan as of right now. If anyone is interested in doing Life Actuarial work or Pensions or Investments, there is more scope in the country. Life Actuaries are getting a lot of recognition in the country (especially after the legal provisions in Insurance Ordinance 2000) and investment actuaries are doing well too. Opportunities for pension work are limited mostly to the government as they try and figure out how to pay their employees. We are trying to shift the rest of the country to DC plans (I'm working on that these days actually). As for non-life work, right now there is hardly any. I have talked to a few people in influential positions and they expecct the market to develop in the near future. So not all hope is lost. Nevertheless, I am thinking of switching the kind of work that I do (from non-life to possibly something else). With that, I leave the future visitors/ stumblers on my blog to make up their own minds about whether or not they want to join the profession of actuarial science. April 24 All I needUnder 20 hours before my exam, I need... 1. Prayers 2. A Hug 3. Sleep 4. A Miracle April 16 She moves in mysterious waysWho, you ask, is causing this mystery? Lady Luck! Some would call it the hand of God. Whatever your beliefs, I'm sure you have noticed that sometimes things just don't go your way no matter how bad you want them. For me this is happening the second time in my life... in as many years. The cycle goes such: 1. Luck brings you to the object of pursuit when you least expect it - right place at the right time; right thought/action at the moment when the iron is hot; call it what you will. 2.. The opportunity is seen, and you play with the idea of having the something new/ different in your life... and you like the idea. 3. You start taking interest. Casually testing the waters. 4. Before you know it, you are caught in a whirlpool... obsessed... there's nothing you want to achieve more. Nothing that would make you happier. 5. Lady Luck smiles a menacing smile and pulls the plug! Technicalities kick in... realities hinder your path. You realize what you thought was the right time, was probably not right at all. I have been through this cycle once, and under completely different circumstances, going through it again. This time round, the cycle took a lot lesser time to complete. Before I could realize I was into one stage, I had moved onto the next and the next... Maybe its me. Maybe its because I don't want it enough to forget about the consequences of going for it despite the odds... despite the technicalities... the realities. Maybe I give up too easily and don't know how to wait for the good things. Or maybe the Lady is playing a cruel game and has taken a liking to me as her subject. She does move in mysterious ways.
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